Greece / Continued from Page 10

person and buried, supposedly never to be seen again. What I keep
thinking about is: how did they get the people through those skinny
urn necks?

But ifthe Greeks (and many other ancient civilizations) hadn't been
so devoted to their dearly departed, I wonder how many fairly intact
examples of ancient pots would still be around today?

As you may have guessed by now, I don’t know much about the his-
tory of Greek pottery, but I do know that I love to see it. I love the shapes
and I love the fact that whoever made them—probably thousands of
years ago—worked in the same way that many potters do today.

I'm proud to be a pottery geek. If you get the chance, get to Greece
and see the pots—they’re everywhere. The National Museum's ceramic
exhibit in Athens was closed when we were there and the Akrotiri dig
(something like a mini-Pompei) on Santorini was closed as well, but,
really, you don't need to go to a major museum. Some of the examples
you see on these pages are from little hole-in-the-wall exhibits on
Rhodes and I was just as happy to see them.

For a small taste of what’s available in Athens, see:

www.athensguide.com/museum.html

For something a little more manageable out on the islands, see the
Archaeological Museum of Rhodes at:

www.travel-rhodes.com/place.php?place_id=19

And remember to drink the ouzo and eat the yogurt—opal @

Three-handled palace-style amphoras. These vases are
distinguished by the high quality of the clay and paint, and by
the naturalistic rendering of the decoration. From the Mycenaean
cemetary at Argive Deiras, 15th century B.C.

a

RPOTTE R’S

—_—_—_—

DREA RA?!

For all your pottery

supplies needs.

THE MAD POTTER

#6 - 3071 No. 5 Road, Richmond, BC (Near Bridgeport)
Tel: 604.244.3734

Store Hours: Tuesday to Saturday 10am to 5pm

Potters Guild of BC Newsletter - July/August 2008

11